Completed toward the end of the Civil War, Inness’s large canvas was intended as a direct challenge to the grandiose, literal style of landscape painters such as Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt, whose works appear in this gallery. Instead of international subject matter and heightened realism, this painting represents fertile farmland imbued with expressive feeling, communicated through enriched pigment and softened brushstrokes. Inness’s choice of title, his depiction of a bountiful harvest, and personal statements associated with this and other works made during the war suggest his confidence in Union victory and prosperity.
